Horror Show
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Slight AU. The team raids a Hydra compound and are horrified when they discover Garrett beating Ward.


**I don't own SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Warning for **physical and emotional**_** abuse**_  
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When the team raided the compound Garrett and Ward were hiding in, they had no idea the horror show they were about to walk in on. They just wanted to take Hydra – and the man who betrayed them – down. "You know what to do?" Coulson asked Skye.

She nodded. "I know exactly what to do. Neither of them will know what hit them." Skye was so pissed she couldn't stand it. Why had Ward done this to them? She couldn't wait until he rotted in jail – he belonged there.

"Can we get moving?" Trip questioned. He just wanted to get this over with so he never had to think about John Garrett again. He wanted to move on.

Coulson nodded. "Let's go." And with Trip, Skye, and May by his side, they made their way into the compound. They took out several Hydra agents with their ICERS and then tried to make their way towards Garrett and Ward.

They found them on another floor but stopped dead in their tracks when Garrett's voice filtered through. "You think you can disobey me and I wouldn't find out, you selfish son of a bitch?"

Ward backed up and tried to calm down the man he considered a father. "I didn't! I did what you asked me to do."

Garrett punched him in the ribs, and Ward groaned. "I fucking told you to kill the scientists. What did you do? You sent them out of the plane in a pod that floats. That is directly disobeying my orders, you worthless piece of shit. You're weak and you always have been. I made a mistake. I should have realized that sooner. And you betrayed your precious little team for nothing."

Skye, Coulson, May, and Trip exchanged a horrified look. "What is happening here?" Skye whispered.

"Maybe Ward just pissed him off," May tried. She knew it was weak and shrugged off their stares.

Coulson had had enough by the time Garrett punched Ward again and started kicking him once he was down on the ground. "I'm going to enjoy killing you, Ward. You deserve this, you know that? No one cares about you and they never have. I cared about you but you threw away every chance I gave you."

"I'm sorry," Ward murmured as he curled up into a ball.

Garrett laughed and kicked him again. "Your apologies are meaningless, just like you."

And that's when Coulson made his move, the others following him. When Garrett heard a click, he turned around to find Coulson pointing the gun at him. "Back the fuck off, John," he warned.

Garrett laughed and then looked down at Ward. "You see what you made me do, you worthless fuck? I missed 'your team' sneaking on me. You're going to pay dearly for this."

Skye had had enough and walked up to Ward. Dropping to her knees, she tried to get him away from Garrett. "You're okay," she soothed.

"Shouldn't be here, Skye. Go away," Ward told her.

"I'm not leaving you, Grant." Skye forced down the sobs that wanted to escape. She wanted Garrett to pay for this. How long had he been hurting – abusing – Ward?

"You're going with me to rot in prison, John." Coulson still couldn't believe that Garrett had betrayed him – SHIELD – like this. He was so furious he couldn't stand it (he actually wondered if this is what Bruce Banner felt like all the time).

Garrett smirked. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen, Phil. I truly am sorry about this."

Trip had had enough and he shot Garrett in the forehead. "He deserved it," he defended after the others turned to stare at him.

"We're taking you with us, Grant. Do you need help standing up?" Skye needed to make sure that Garrett hadn't injured him too badly.

Ward tried to stand up on his own but found he couldn't do it. Trip and May ended up pulling him up. "We'll have someone look at your injuries as soon as we're out of here," May promised.

"Why are you doing this?" Ward asked. "I betrayed all of you. Skye hates me because I'm a monster."

She cringed. "New evidence has come to light. Come on, let's get you some help. Do you know where FitzSimmons are?" Skye was still angry that he had tried to kill him, but based on what they overheard Garrett telling him, he had tried to save them? They'd have to question him about that later.

Ward shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"You can apologize to them when we find them. Now let's go!" Coulson urged them out of there, and everyone followed him. When they got back to the hotel, Trip got to work on cleaning up Ward's injuries.

"Is he really dead?" Ward finally asked after he got tired of the awkward silence.

Coulson nodded. "I checked after – he's gone. Grant, how long has the abuse been going on?"

His head snapped to attention then. "He wasn't abusing me! That was just a lesson for disobeying him."

Skye started crying and Trip cringed. "Ward, that was one hundred percent abuse. I know you probably can't see straight right now – partially because of the concussion Garrett gave you – but it's the truth," he gently told him.

Ward sought out Skye's hand and started holding it for support (she surprisingly let him). "I was sixteen and in juvie when he found me. My older brother used to hurt me, my brother and sister – my parents were even worse – and when I found out that he went too far one day, I tried to burn the house down with him in it. And then he dropped me in the woods with a dog – Buddy – for six months. He came back after that but I was there for another five years. And when I got into SHIELD, he said that Buddy was a weakness and wanted me to kill him. But I couldn't do it. Garrett shot Buddy and then punished me for it afterwards."

They stared at him horrified. "Did he continue to punish you later?" Coulson asked and then wished he hadn't said that. Of course Garrett still "punished" him – they had walked in on it happening.

Ward nodded anyway. "It's my fault for being weak."

"Grant, you are not weak and I never want to hear you say that again, do you understand? We're still pissed as hell at you but we love you. We're not letting you go away." Skye wanted to hit something because she was so angry at Garrett.

"You're never going to be punished again," Coulson promised. He wanted to take his anger out on somebody but he wasn't sure who.

"We're your family," Trip added.

May nodded. "We're not going anywhere."

Ward couldn't believe – and didn't understand why – they were doing this, especially when FitzSimmons were still missing –but he was too terrified to question it.

Fury found FitzSimmons – both battered and injured – in the middle of the ocean, the pod just randomly floating. When the two found out the truth, they were also horrified but they forgave Ward.

It would be a long time before his family could trust him again, but Ward found the support and love he needed all his life with him. And therapy went a long way towards helping him get better and deal with the horrors he experienced.


End file.
